Max Verstappen insists he would be "fine" with the prospect of never again having the chance to become Formula 1 world champion.
The Dutchman has already won the title twice, having been champion of the last two seasons. Given how dominant he and his Red Bull team were in the last campaign in particular, he looks well placed to add more trophies to his collection in the next few years.
But, of course, there are no guarantees. Even the best F1 drivers are limited by their machinery and, even though his Red Bull car was brilliant last year, there is no way to know if their 2023 effort will live up to the billing until at least pre-season testing.
Someone as competitive as Verstappen wants to win as much and as often as possible, but now that he has already achieved what he set out to do in F1, he insists he will be able to rest easy if he never again gets the chance to fight for the championship.
"Yeah, but you need the car for that," he told Motorsport.com when asked about his desire for more success. "Now, I've won two, but if I never have the opportunity to win again because of my material, then I'm fine with that. Of course, I would like to win, but you need to have a bit of luck as well with that."
That statement is in line with what he said back at the end of the 2021 season, in the aftermath of becoming world champion for the first time. At that point, he spoke about having achieved his childhood dream and that anything else he could add on top of it would simply be more icing on the cake.
And he reiterated that message again, adding: "These cars have also been really different. That took a bit of time to really get used too – also because our car was really heavily overweight in the beginning and that just didn't help the balance of the car in general.
"But, besides that, no [nothing has changed]. I'm just enjoying the moment. I was enjoying the moment also last year [2021], but that pressure or need – that hunger to try and win a title whenever you had the opportunity – that's gone.
"I said already that after the first one, whatever comes next is just a bonus and honestly I do see it like that. It doesn't change my life. I know who my friends are and I spend time with them and my family. Nothing has really changed in my life in the way I'm living it compared to last year."
